Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

Global Status and Trends of Commercialized Biotechnology in Crops
brought into agricultural production than any other country in the world, up to 100 million ha or
more, with an ample water supply—the major global constraint to increased crop production.
Brazil also has the third-largest area of maize in the world, after the U.S. and China, with
significant potential for both biotech insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant varieties. Unlike soybean,
which are generally produced on larger farms, the 12 million ha of maize in Brazil is
farmed mainly by small farmers to whom the social benefits of increased income would be very
important and consistent with the government’s top priority of alleviating poverty. Brazil also
has the sixth-largest area of cotton in the world and uses the greatest quantity of cotton insecticides
in Latin America. Adoption of insect-resistant biotech cotton could result in significant advantages
for both the small and large farmers who grow cotton, including less exposure to insecticides
and higher net incomes. Using only current proven biotech crops of soybean, maize, and
cotton, already successfully commercialized in other countries, the collective value for these
three crops in Brazil could probably be increased by up to USD1 billion per year, with significant
added environmental, health, and social benefits that are particularly important for small,
resource-poor farmers who could enhance their income and have less exposure to pesticides.
South Africa
A draft National Biotechnology Strategy was completed in 2001 that provided for three
centers of excellence funded at USD64 million over three years. These centers provide a framework
for a national PlantBio network, with facilities worth USD4 million at the University of
Pretoria, which acts as a hub for crop biotechnology, including an informatics and gene technology
center. The most advanced public-sector product is a Bt potato resistant to the tuber moth,
currently being field tested. Other potential new biotech crops from both the private and the
public sectors that are in advanced field tests are stacked Bt/herbicide-tolerant cotton and maize,
sugarcane with modified carbohydrate, and virus-resistant potatoes undergoing tests in greenhouses.
The stacked Bt/herbicide-tolerant cotton is currently under advanced field testing. Despite
a shortage of biotech maize seed, which has constrained adoption rates, 240,000 ha of
yellow maize (24% of the total) and 155,000 ha (10% adoption) of white maize are estimated for
2004–05, with continued strong growth projected for the future. It is notable that Bt white maize
has been rapidly accepted as a food crop, increasing from 6,000 ha in 2001 to 155,000 ha in
2004. The stacked Bt/herbicide-tolerant maize is currently under advanced field testing, and
expedited approval of this product is important so that South Africa can maintain its lead role in
biotech crops. Biotech soybeans were introduced in 2001, and the adoption rate moved rapidly
from 5% in 2001 to an estimated 50% in 2004, with continued strong growth expected for 2005
and beyond.
TRENDS AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
The future of crop biotechnology products will depend, to a large extent, on their proven
benefits to the farming community, a regime of acceptable biosafety oversight, and public/consumer
acceptance. Regulatory frameworks for biosafety are being developed by many countries
that are signatories to the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol under the Convention on Biological
Diversity, and the methodology for safety assessment has also increasingly been improved vis-àvis
its science and acceptance by governments (Thomas and Fuchs, 2002).
Benefits from Biotech Crops
The experience of the first nine years, 1996 to 2004, during which a cumulative total of
over 385 million ha (951 million acres, equivalent to 40% of the total land area of the U.S. or
China) of biotech crops were planted globally in 22 countries, has met the expectations of
millions of large and small farmers in both industrial and developing countries. Biotech crops
are also delivering benefits to consumers and society at large, through more affordable food,
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